What’s a better piece of music to start with, than possibly
the most well-known cello work ever written?
You may know it as “The Cello Song”, by The Piano Guys. But
that is only a brilliant rendition of Bach’s Prelude in G major, the first
movement of one of six masterful cello suites. Of the countless number of versions
(interpretations) of different cellists, I think Mischa Maisky might translate the
piece most expressively. His dramatic, passionate playing through every note
translates the sound from dots on paper to pure tranquility...exactly how it
should be played.
This prelude seems to have an ethereal voice…it takes the
listener out of reality and to the sky, giving them a taste of heaven. The low notes pull you in, they give you the
wings to fly; while the high notes keep you in the air. Gently but progressively
you are ascending, bewitched by the rolling current of notes on which you ride.
The melody is inescapable. For a transient two-and-a-half minutes, you find
yourself completely mesmerized by a most angelic prelude…and the mysterious resonance
of an unpredictably powerful instrument.
So often I wonder what the inspiration was. What made J.S. Bach
decide on the specific combination of notes, and through them, what was he
trying to say?
Sadly, I’ll never know everything about the mind of this remarkable
composer. All I know, is that he was given an incredible gift. And even two-and-a-half
centuries after his death, millions of people are still amazed and blessed by
it!
Wow.
